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Business
& Labor
Israeli
Security Barrier Provides High-Tech Niche
Perimeter
security depends on sophisticated sensors
(enr.construction.com - 05/31/04 issue)
By Neil
Sandler
The construction of Israel’s security
barrier has been highly controversial for nearly two years
but the project has been a boon for the companies involved
in supplying the sophisticated technology. Two Israeli firms
that focus on perimeter security are supplying most of the
high-tech sensors and electronic equipment for the 730-kilometer
array of fences, walls and trenches designed to impede terrorist
threats.
Magal Security
Systems Ltd. and Ortek Ltd., a subsidiary of one of Israel’s
largest defense companies, Elbit Systems Ltd., are approved
by the Israeli Defense Ministry to provide perimeter security
equipment for the project. "This is a very high visibility
project and the largest of its kind for Magal," says
CEO Izhar Dekel.
The $2.5-billion
"fence" now being built is the largest construction
project in Israel’s history. So far, over 300 km have
been completed. Smaller-scale fences were built in the past
along the country’s northern border with Lebanon and
the Gaza Strip.
The fence
is comprised of a 50-meter- wide strip with a ditch and pyramid-
shaped stack of six coils of barbed wire running along its
eastern side. There is a path enabling the Israeli army to
patrol on both sides, along with an intrusion-detection fence
with sophisticated sensors to warn of any incursion in any
weather. A smooth strip of sand runs parallel to the fence
to detect footprints. In some areas walls have been erected
to protect against sniper fire. A string of observation posts
runs along the route (ENR 3/29 p. 22).
"We have a representative that
takes part in the planning from the initial stages to see
that our specifications are met," said Avi Barak, president
of Ortek.
The main barrier is built of concrete
beams in 20-m to 60-m-long segments. Engineers say sophisticated
electronic detection equipment complicates construction. "The
break in each segment must be uniform so that the vertical
changes in the slope along the entire route will be coordinated
with the breaking point of each horizontal concrete beam,"
says one senior Israeli engineer working on the project. Each
beam must be stepped up to meet the existing land slope that
changes along the route.
One of the most difficult segments is
in the Jerusalem area. The hilly topography and urban environment
complicate surveillance, which depends on line of sight. Ortek
was awarded the 25-km-long segment in the Jerusalem area and
is using thermal imaging equipment to deal with the complex
task of surveillance.
Publicity surrounding Israel’s
security fence has been good for business abroad for both
Magal and Ortek, say company officials, without giving details.
The rising terrorist threat has led to growing inter-est in
perimeter security abroad, where the market is experiencing
double-digit growth, they say. The U.S. market is still in
its infancy but could get a boost soon when the Dept. of Homeland
Security issues guidelines for infrastructure-critical installations.
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